Politics of Croatia

Croatia's local elections on Sunday confirmed the strength of the governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, in the counties, but underlined its lack of strength in the major cities of Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek.

The HDZ won in 11 out of Croatia's 20 counties, while its traditional opponent, the opposition Social Democratic Party, SDP, managed to win in only five.

Russian Ambassador to Croatia, Anvar Azimov, summoned to a meeting Zvonko Zubak, Croatian businessman who deals in trafficking of arms, in order to ask him where are missing missiles from rocket system S-300, which Russia delivered to Croatia in the first half of the nineties, claims Croatian daily "Vecernji list", without citing sources.

Croatia's ruling party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, fears its plans for the local elections in Zagreb could be upset after a far-right researcher, Bruna Esih, said she was running for Mayor.

Esih, aged 41, who entered parliament on the HDZ list as a non-party candidate in the last elections, already has the HDZ worried.

The Croatian government has set up a council that will examine how to deal with the legacy of the WWII-era fascist and post-WWII communist regimes in the country.

Croatian media reports on Thursday said the governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, plans to oust the controversial Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, by refusing to support his budget in the city assembly.

BELGRADE - Croatia's ruling conservatives have won the country's snap parliamentary elections, but did not take enough seats to rule without coalition partners.

Nearly complete results show the conservative Croatian Democratic Union - HDZ - winning 61 seats in the 151- member parliament.

BELGRADE - The Croats go to the polls on Sunday to choose the government for the second time in ten months.

Polling stations opened at 7am for just under 3.8 million voters who have an opportunity to cast votes for parliament for the second time in Croatia in ten months.

Voters in Croatia and abroad - diaspora and Bosnian Croats - can choose from among 177 lists of parties, coalitions and individual candidates for 12 constituencies.

Bosnian Croats will likely again lend mass support to the main right-wing Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, in Sunday's parliamentary elections in Croatia, an expert told BIRN, although their participation in elections in the country has fallen in recent years.

Five former members of the police force of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina wartime rebel statelet in Croatia were convicted in their absence of committing war crimes in 1991.